You shouldn’t give in to things that are very important to you, but understand that both you and the other parent will be expected to compromise during custody mediation. If you refuse to meet the other parent halfway, that won’t look favorably and you’ll appear inflexible.
A parenting plan that is mutually agreed upon is more likely to
stand the test of time.
Be flexible on the issues you are less concerned with so that you can stand firm on the issues important to you. Try to compromise so that you don’t have to go to court too. But if you can’t reach an agreement that you are comfortable with during mediation, realize that you may do better going to court.
If you have serious reservations about what’s on the table in mediation, it will be better for you to state that you need time to think about it or discuss it with your attorney as opposed to agreeing to
something that you might later regret. If you do reach an agreement, the mediator will type it up and send it to the court and both attorneys and the court. While you don’t necessarily need to abide by this agreement when you end up going to court, reneging will mean you and your attorney will have some serious backpedaling to do. In this situation, you risk upsetting the judge.
Child Custody Mediation is Your Chance to Make the Decisions
Mediators are trained to handle parenting plan negotiations that come to a standstill because of one parent’s ego. However, if you or the other parent absolutely refuses to cooperate, the agreement will come apart and a judge will determine the details of the parenting plan.
After compromise comes commitment. A parenting plan that is mutually agreed upon is more likely to stand the test of time. Most importantly, a mutually agreed to parenting plan will result in happier children.